diff --git a/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/service/DocumentPath.java b/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/service/DocumentPath.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1147c22
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/service/DocumentPath.java
@@ -0,0 +1,151 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2016-present Open Networking Laboratory
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.onosproject.store.service;
+
+import com.google.common.base.Preconditions;
+import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableList;
+import com.google.common.collect.Lists;
+
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.Iterator;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Objects;
+
+/**
+ * A path class for identifying nodes within the {@code DocumentTree}.
+ *
+ * Note: indexing is ONE based so the root is the 1st level, to retrieve the
+ * root one should query level 1.
+ */
+public class DocumentPath implements Comparable {
+
+    private final ArrayList<String> tokens = Lists.newArrayList();
+
+    /**
+     * Private utility constructor for internal generation of partial paths only.
+     *
+     * @param path
+     */
+    private DocumentPath(List<String> path) {
+        Preconditions.checkNotNull(path);
+        this.tokens.addAll(path);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Constructor to generate new {@DocumentPath}, new paths must contain at
+     * least one name and string names may NOT contain any '.'s. If one field
+     * is null that field will be ignored.
+     *
+     * @throws IllegalDocumentNameException if both parameters are null or the string
+     * name contains an illegal character ('.')
+     * @param nodeName the name of the last level of this path
+     * @param parentPath the path representing the parents leading up to this
+     *                   node, in the case of the root this should be null
+     */
+    public DocumentPath(String nodeName, DocumentPath parentPath) {
+        if (nodeName.contains(".")) {
+            throw new IllegalDocumentNameException(
+                    "Periods are not allowed in names.");
+        }
+        if (parentPath != null) {
+            tokens.addAll(parentPath.path());
+        }
+        if (nodeName != null) {
+            tokens.add(nodeName);
+        }
+        if (tokens.isEmpty()) {
+            throw new IllegalDocumentNameException("A document path must contain at" +
+                                                   "least one non-null" +
+                                                   "element.");
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns a path from the root to the parent of this node, if this node is
+     * the root this call returns null.
+     *
+     * @return a {@code DocumentPath} representing a path to this paths parent,
+     * null if this a root path
+     */
+    public DocumentPath parent() {
+        if (tokens.size() <= 1) {
+            return null;
+        }
+        return new DocumentPath(this.tokens.subList(0, tokens.size() - 1));
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the complete list of tokens representing this path in correct
+     * order.
+     *
+     * @return a list of strings representing this path
+     */
+    public List<String> path() {
+        return ImmutableList.copyOf(tokens);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public int hashCode() {
+        return Objects.hash(tokens);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public boolean equals(Object obj) {
+        if (obj instanceof DocumentPath) {
+            DocumentPath that = (DocumentPath) obj;
+            return this.tokens.equals(that.tokens);
+        }
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public String toString() {
+        StringBuilder stringBuilder = new StringBuilder();
+        Iterator<String> iter = tokens.iterator();
+        while (iter.hasNext()) {
+            stringBuilder.append(iter.next());
+            if (iter.hasNext()) {
+                stringBuilder.append(".");
+            }
+        }
+        return stringBuilder.toString();
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public int compareTo(Object o) {
+        if (o instanceof DocumentPath) {
+            DocumentPath that = (DocumentPath) o;
+            int shorterLength = this.tokens.size() > that.tokens.size() ?
+                    that.tokens.size() : this.tokens.size();
+            for (int i = 0; i < shorterLength; i++) {
+                if (this.tokens.get(i).compareTo(that.tokens.get(i)) != 0) {
+                    return this.tokens.get(i).compareTo(that.tokens.get(i));
+                }
+            }
+
+            if (this.tokens.size() > that.tokens.size()) {
+                return 1;
+            } else if (that.tokens.size() > this.tokens.size()) {
+                return -1;
+            } else {
+                return 0;
+            }
+        }
+        throw new IllegalArgumentException("Compare can only compare objects" +
+                                                   "of the same type.");
+    }
+}